Smaller Search Engines May Prove the Right Match For Your Research

From today’s San Francisco Chronicle, this article reviews some alternatives to search engine powerhouses Google and Yahoo, several of which you may have heard of and/or use now, such as clustering engine Vivisimo and Topix.net (which bills itself as “The Internet’s Largest News Site). But other suggested sites may be new to you and worth …

Subjects: Legal Research, Search Engines

Innovative Blog Provides Gov Docs in PDF Via P2P

Using P2P applications, Download for Democracy is providing free access to a growing database archive, currently comprising “600 government memos, communications, and reports, all of which were obtained from mainstream media sources, respected legal or academic groups, or the federal government itself.” For background and commentary on this new website, created and maintained by a …

Subjects: Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legislation, Libraries

New Report on Privacy and E-Health Records

On July 14 the Markle Foundation issued this press release and link to the accompanying report, Achieving Electronic Connectivity in Healthcare, A Preliminary Roadmap from the Nation’s Public and Private Sector Healthcare Leaders (PDF, 67 pages). Related news: HHS to Present Plan on Transforming Health Care Through Information Technology at National Conference July 21. Health …

Subjects: Privacy

New Studies Evaluate US and UK E-Gov Accessibility

Assessing the accessibility of fifty United States government Web pages: Using Bobby to check on Uncle Sam: “This study evaluates the current accessibility of U.S. Government Web pages for people with disabilities. …The home pages of fifty U.S. government agencies were reviewed for accessibility based on Section 508 guidelines. This study establishes that the U.S. …

Subjects: E-Government, Web Site Accessibility and Usability

EU Financial Sanctions Database

Consolidated list of persons, groups and entities subject to EU financial sanctions “In order to facilitate the application of financial sanctions, the European Banking Federation, the European Savings Banks Group, the European Association of Co-operative Banks and the European Association of Public Banks (“the EU Credit Sector Federations”) and the Commission recognised the need for …

Subjects: Legal Research

OSHA Launches New Site on Whistleblower Program

From today’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) press release: “The Whistleblower Program webpage…provide[s] a single source for obtaining detailed information on the laws with whistleblower protections that are administered by OSHA…The webpage includes direct links to the 14 laws with whistleblower protections administered by the agency, and lists the regulations governing the procedures for …

Subjects: E-Government, Legal Research

NY AG Settles Case With Spammer

From the press release today: “State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer today announced the settlement of a lawsuit against email marketer Scott Richter and his company, OptInRealBig.com, LLC. The suit alleged that unsolicited emails, or spam, sent on defendants’ behalf contained falsified headers, falsified routing information, and deceptive subject lines, and were illegally routed through a …

Subjects: E-Mail

Campaigns Will Closely Monitor Voting Irregularities

Kerry Building Legal Network for Vote Fights: both parties are implemeting legal strategies in anticipation of a possible recount in the November election. Related information: for links to “comprehensive databases on more than 40,000 candidates and incumbents,” see Project Vote Smart. And for a unique perspective of campaigns at the local level, here is a …

Subjects: Blogs, Legal Research

E-Voting Blocked In Ohio

Press release, July 16, 2004: Blackwell Halts Deployment Of Diebold Voting Machines For 2004: “Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell today halted deployment of Diebold Election Systems’ electronic voting devices in Ohio for the 2004 General Election. The decision is based on preliminary findings from the secretary of state’s second round of security testing …

Subjects: E-Government

CAPPS II Program Will Live Again?

There appears to be contradictory information concerning the demise of the CAPPS II program. A Federal Computer Week article clearly shows how DHS and TSA have reached different conclusions as to whether the program will indeed continue. To make the situation even more confusing, here is an article from Wired today, The Man Who Helped …

Subjects: Privacy